The Bishop of Rwanda [Hardcover]

John Rucyahana (Author), James Riordan (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 6, 2007

In 1994, as his country descended into the madness of genocide, Anglican Bishop John Rucyahana underwent the mind-numbing pain of having members of his church and family butchered. John refused to become a part of the systemic hatred. He founded the Sonrise orphanage and school for children orphaned in the genocide, and he now leads reconciliation efforts between his own Tutsi people, the victims of this horrific massacre, and the perpetrators, the Hutus. His remarkable story is one that demands to be told.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Bishop John Rucyahana, an ethnic Tutsi refugee, was a leader in the Anglican Church of Uganda during the genocide of his people in Rwanda. He moved back in 1997 with his family to lead the largest and most devastated diocese there. The bulk of his narrative recounts the same story that others have told of the incomprehensibly brutal extermination of nearly one million Tutsis in 100 days. What this powerful, if unevenly edited, book adds is a deeper understanding of the role of the churches in the genocide. Although many Hutu pastors died protecting the Tutsis of their flocks, often religious clergy participated in the abhorrent violence, killing or betraying members of their congregations. The people of Rwanda have lost trust in authority of any kind, including religion, and so Rucyahana notes that the healing work that must now be accomplished can only be done through integrity and pure love. Bishop John has built ministries for both genocide survivors and perpetrators, releasing the pain from both sides and acting as a beacon for other communities suffering from their own destructive divisions. To anyone who has ever struggled to forgive or felt too far gone to repent, this book plumbs the depth of God's grace and finds no bottom. (Mar. 6)
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From Booklist

When Rwanda exploded in April 1994, Rucyahana and his family were in Uganda, whence they had fled the gathering storm some time before. Ordained the Anglican bishop of Rwanda's Shyria diocese after the slaughter subsided, Rucyahana went home to spearhead an astonishing work of reconciliation. More than a million had been murdered on the pretext that the Tutsi, aka Watusi, minority had long oppressed the Hutu majority. That grievance was manufactured, Rucyahana convincingly argues, by Belgian and French colonial overlords and then exploited after independence by unscrupulous politicians (as well as French economic "advisors": France bought the machetes for the bloodbath). Mostly physically indistinguishable from one another, Tutsi and Hutu lived together peaceably long before colonialism and, through ongoing public and private confession and forgiveness, shall again. There is more to the healing, of course, including unparalleled advocacy for the people and promotion of social justice by the church. Apart from the grace of God, however, it wouldn't have happened, Rucyahana says. To read his account of holocaust and revival is to believe him. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson (March 6, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0849900522
• ISBN-13: 978-0849900525
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #563,113 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #76 in Books > History > Africa > Rwanda

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yes, it may break your heart, but it may also restore it., June 6, 2007

By 

FaithfulReader.com (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bishop of Rwanda (Hardcover)

If you had mentioned the African nation of Rwanda in conversation several years ago, chances are you'd have received a vacant stare in return. While some people could summon up the memory of some kind of conflict there, not so many could have described the conflict in any detail. Thanks to the 2004 movie Hotel Rwanda, people are a bit more likely to recall the genocide that started in 1994 and claimed the lives of more than a million people. The film, however, is just one part of the story.

THE BISHOP OF RWANDA tells the rest of the story, and it's one that needs to be read and heard and digested and repeated over and over again. Because it's not "just" a story of one nation's experience with inhumanity and brutality and unimaginable horror. It's also a story of widespread political ruthlessness and machinations --- and of personal forgiveness and reconciliation.

Here's a brief refresher. In the spring of 1994, the world began to pay attention to a conflict in Rwanda that had been brewing for some time. In April of that year, the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi were killed in a suspicious plane crash near the airport in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. Fighting between the Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda escalated, but as far as the world was concerned, this was a civil war between rival tribes. (In the interest of full disclosure, I helped cover the aftermath of the conflict for Charisma magazine, and today I blanch at how little we understood the real reasons behind the war --- even though we received the best information available to us at the time, from people on the ground in Rwanda.)

Anglican Bishop John Rucyahana tells a far different story from what we were told in 1994 and the years that followed. The true story is one that began many decades earlier and over the years directly involved Belgium, France, several African nations and the United Nations, and, indirectly, the United States. (President Clinton cited his failure to act on the genocide in Rwanda as his greatest mistake.) Repeated warnings, alarms and cries for help coming out of Rwanda prior to 1994 were routinely --- and worse, flagrantly --- ignored by the world community. When the genocide began, some of the people who had been sounding those alarms were the first to be killed.

On a political level alone, THE BISHOP OF RWANDA is a must-read. The behind-the-scenes but direct involvement of European and African nations in the genocide makes for a compelling lesson in global politics, one that we would all be wise to pay close attention to. Things are not always as they seem; sometimes, they are far worse, as this book reveals.

After reading about the horrors of the killings, which were more brutal, cruel, sadistic and horrific than even Hollywood could portray, and the evil of wanton political corruption --- just when overwhelming despair begins to overtake you, when you're ashamed to be a member of the human race --- Bishop Rucyahana begins painting a picture of Rwanda today. It's a picture of forgiveness and reconciliation that is guaranteed to give you the chills and cause you to blink back the tears. A former refugee who led the protest against the genocide now serves as Rwanda's president and has been instrumental in promoting forgiveness through conferences and government-supported programs. One effort toward fostering reconciliation between Hutus and Tutsis is a truly remarkable program in which perpetrators of the genocide are building houses for the survivors. It's enough to make you want to be a member of the human race once again.

Please don't dismiss this book because you're not necessarily interested in the topic. It's important on so many levels that there's bound to be one that resonates with you. And it's so well-written that you may find it more captivating than you anticipate. Yes, it may break your heart, but it may also restore it.

--- Reviewed by Marcia Ford

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A needed reminder to the Western world, March 19, 2007

By 

Christian Book Previews "Christian Book Previews" - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Bishop of Rwanda (Hardcover)

"In 1994, at least one million, one hundred and seventeen thousand innocent people were massacred in a horrible genocide in Rwanda, my homeland in central Africa. We are still finding bodies--buried in pits, dumped in rivers, chopped in pieces." These are words from the introduction of John Rucyahana and James Riordan's book, The Bishop of Rwanda.

In his book, Rucyahana recounts a history of genocide in Rwanda, from its causes to its completion. On its own, it is a thorough examination of the events of the Rwandan genocide, but the author truly makes it a compelling account: he was there. John Rucyahana became the bishop of the Shyira diocese of Rwanda in 1997, serving his term during the violence. He escaped death many times. Friends and members of his family were not so fortunate. Today, he has committed himself to reconciliation within the country of Rwanda and has founded an orphanage dedicated to providing for children orphaned during the genocide there. All things considered, John Rucyahana is more than qualified to write this book.

The Bishop of Rwanda begins with the story of a Rwandan family stricken by violence. This is quite possibly one of the most shocking parts of the book. Rucyahana continues to explain the causes of this violence, as he begs the question: what would turn two peaceful, harmonious peoples against one another? The answer is surprising and outraging. From there, he gives a history of the violence from its rise to its fall. He ends with an explanation of the need for reconciliation and the current efforts toward that end.

Throughout this book, however, the purpose remains the same: to explain how, even through all of this violence, in the end God was glorified. Now that the genocide is over, Rwandans are turning to God as never before.

Due to its subject, The Bishop of Rwanda is a very violent book. All throughout the book there are graphic descriptions of murder and other violent behaviors. Thus, this book should probably not be read by someone under the age of 16. However, the overall message of the book is good, especially considering the current similar situation in Darfur, and I highly recommend it for those 16 and older.

It's always been easy to be complacent. It's even easier today, when much of the world embraces the concepts of freedom and equality. The Bishop of Rwanda gives the Western world a much needed reminder that things like this do happen and need to be stopped. More than that, it gives everyone a reminder that God can turn even a tragedy like genocide into a victory. - Peter Semple, Christian Book Previews.com

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Compelling Book, an Even More Compelling Author, December 16, 2007

By 

Ryan Burwinkel (Conway, AR, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Bishop of Rwanda (Hardcover)

Having been blessed enough to meet with Bishop John twice this year-once in my country and once in his, I can tell you that this man is even more powerful than his account of those tragic events in 1994. He is truly devoted to his work-Reconciliation, as well as his school, which he gave us a tour of. If you want to know what has happened in Rwanda, I would suggest reading this book, along with "Murambi: Book of Bones.", "Shake Hands with the Devil." and "We Wish to Inform You.." for a more complete picture. If you wish to know what is going on right now in Rwanda, Bishop John is a very integral part of that process, and his book is a faithful portrayal of his work.